After two weeks: Seven schizophrenic teams

Two games is not a lot to judge a team by, and it becomes harder when a team does so well in one game and so poorly in the other. Here we examine seven teams that have had schizophrenic results so far in 2013, and try to determine what we can conclude about the team or its opponents.

1. Boise State Broncos: lost to Washington 38-6; beat Tenn.-Martin 63-14
   The Broncos were beaten badly at Washington, worse than we thought they'd be beaten—and we ranked Washington very high and Boise State low compared to the national average. Boise State recovered in a big way against FCS Tennessee-Martin the next week.
   Evidence: Washington has played no other game; Tennessee-Martin beat Tennessee-Chattanooga in its first game, a pretty good result for the Skyhawks.
   Verdict: Washington is going to be very good this year.
   
   
2. Indiana Hoosiers: beat Indiana State 73-35; lost to Navy 41-35
   The Hoosiers piles up the points on the Sycamores but couldn't outshoot the Midshipmen, from whom we were expecting very little this season.
   Evidence: Navy hasn't played another game, so they are of no help. Indiana State did play Purdue and lost, 20-14.
   Verdict: Nothing too shocking: Indiana's offense is very good but their defense is still weak and is going to lose games for them.
   
   
3. Cincinnati Bearcats: beat Purdue 42-7; lost to Illinois 45-17
   After Cincy beat Purdue so badly it seemed that Illinois should be a piece of cake, but the Illini had other ideas.
   Evidence: Purdue, as noted above, also beat Indiana State 20-14. Illinois beat Southern Illinois 42-34. Those are similar results that don't draw a distinction between Purdue and Illinois the way their games against Cincinnati did. So we'll look for conclusions different than the obvious "Illinois is better than Purdue."
   Verdict: Either the Bearcats went into Illinois thinking they had a cakewalk on their hands and were caught off guard, or Cincy is a great home team and a terrible road team. (Also, Illinois is  better than Purdue)
   
   
4. Kentucky Wildcats: lost to Western Kentucky 35-26; beat Miami, Ohio 41-7
   The Wildcats bounced back from a bad week one to dominate the Redhawks in week two.
   Evidence: Western Kentucky lost to Tennessee in week two, 52-20, while Miami of Ohio lost their first game 52-14 to Marshall.
   Verdict: Kentucky shouldn't celebrate a week two tournaround; it came against a very bad team while the team they lost to got drubbed themselves.
   
   
5. West Virginia Mountaineers: beat William & Mary 24-17; lost to Oklahoma 17-6
   This team's win was their poor showing and their loss was the recovery. Beating William & Mary by a touchdown was weak, and only losing to Oklahoma by 11 showed strength, regardless of how it happened.
   Evidence: William & Mary beat Hampton 31-7 last week, a showing that's basically in-line for how good they appeared to be (they were 2-9 last year). However, Oklahoma's first weekend showing was great, a 34-0 crushing of ULM.
   Verdict: WVU's offense isn't even a shadow of last year's O. As for the Oklahoma game, it can't be counted as evidence due to all the crazy turnovers on both sides. It could be a long year for the Mountaineers.
   
   
6. Virginia Cavaliers: beat BYU 19-16; lost to Oregon 59-10
   The Cavs upset BYU, which didn't seem quite so amazing at the time but was still a surprise. The loss to Oregon was certainly expected though the magnitude was pretty stunning.
   Evidence: BYU went on to crush Texas 40-21. Oregon beat Nicholls State in game one 66-3. Virginia held BYU to 187 rushing yards while the Cougars had 550 against Texas. Oregon had 350 against Virginia; imagine what they would do to the Longhorns?
   Verdict: Either Texas is one of the nation's worst teams or Oregon is the best team in the country. It's doubtful Texas is quite that bad so it might be time to consider the Ducks a favorite to be in the BCS championship game.
   
   
7. Western Kentucky Hilltoppers: beat Kentucky 35-26; lost to Tennessee 52-20
   WKU looked good in week one assuming the Wildcats are better than last year's 2-10 team; they looked poor the next week even assuming the Vols have improved.
   Evidence: Kentucky's 2nd game was much better as they beat Miami of Ohio 41-7. Tennessee shut out Austin Peay 45-0 in week one. Neither game tells us much.
   Verdict: Chances are none of this was the Hilltoppers' fault. Kentucky just hasn't improved as much as we thought, while Tennessee is probably better than we figured.